Chapter 6

Hank arrived about half an hour after their phone conversation. He was holding a couple of bags; he'd stopped to get some junk food and had rented a movie.

"Hey, how are you?" Hank asked her.

"I'm fine, really."

"That doesn't look good," he said, gently pushing her hair to the side to get a better look at her black eye, "Did you put ice on it?"

"Yes, I put ice on it. Look, I'm fine, okay? I know you're concerned, but I'd like to just think about something else for now."

Hank nodded silently, still inspecting her eye. She took his hand off her face and turned her attention to the bags he was holding.

"Why did you go buy this stuff?" Sara asked him as she looked through the bags which contained chips, cookies and a couple of chocolate bars.

"Because I'm hungry and I assumed you didn't have any junk food. It's nice to indulge once in a while, though," he answered, smiling.

Sara couldn't help but smile; Hank was practically a woman at heart.

"Alright, then. What movie did you rent?"

A mischievous smile appeared on Hank's face.

"One of my favourites: The Others."

"That's great, because I love that movie too! I'm, uh, kind of a horror buff. How did you know?"

"Lucky guess."

"Greg?"

"Yes."

Sara rolled her eyes and put in the movie; they sat on her couch in silence for a little while, watching it and eating chips. Sara felt like she was a teenager again; stay-at-home date, junk food, awkward silences, the giddiness she felt when she was around Hank.

"This is quite a change from our previous dates," Sara remarked.

"Agreed, but I like this kind of change; it's cheaper and it's cozier," Hank replied, chuckling.

He shifted a bit closer to her and put his arm around her shoulders.

Sara blushed a bit.

XXX

Grissom had finally finished work for the day, and he was exhausted. He was looking forward to going home and getting a bit of sleep before coming back in tomorrow. He was driving home, and at the moment there was one thing bothering him.

Terri.

He hadn't really heard from her since the double-date. She had told him that she would be in Vegas for a week, and he had tried to call her, but she hadn't answered her phone or returned his calls. He'd also tried e-mailing her after a few days, but he hadn't received a reply. Grissom might not understand women very well, but he knew enough to realize that if Terri really wanted to see him again, she would contact him.

That was probably what bothered Grissom the most about the whole situation; if Terri didn't want to date him anymore, that was fine, he understood, but he didn't appreciate being toyed with, and he didn't like the fact that this relationship was pretty much dictated by Terri's fancy.

Grissom shook his head; he had arrived home. He walked in and frowned; he was feeling terribly lonely. He tried to remember the last time he'd had anyone over, but he couldn't. He sighed, knowing that he wouldn't be getting to sleep just yet; he needed to find a distraction, fast.

He thought about reading, but found that he was too tired to do so. He thought about doing some crosswords, but found that he didn't really feel like it. He thought about just lying down and listening to some classical music, but that idea didn't appeal to him. The only thing he was seriously considering doing was turning on the TV and finding an old black and white classic movie.

XXX

"Man, that twist ending will never get old," Hank stated as the movie finished.

"Yeah, it's pretty great," Sara replied, yawning.

"You know, this movie kind of reminds me of Turn of the Screw," he said.

"That's because the movie is in fact based on the Henry James classic," she replied, yawning yet again.

"You're tired; I think that's my cue to leave."

"Well, you don't have to leave."

"Uh, sorry?"

Sara rolled her eyes.

"I'm inviting you to stay the night; let's go to bed. Keep your hands to yourself, though," she teased him.

XXX

When Sara woke up the next morning, Hank was still sleeping soundly beside her. Not surprisingly, Hank had definitely not kept his hands to himself. In the end, it hadn't bothered Sara all that much; she felt that they were moving pretty fast, she didn't mind. Sara stretched and rolled onto her back.

Dating Hank was turning out to be a pretty good decision; sure he was a little corny, and on the surface he seemed almost too nice, but he genuinely cared about her and something about him made her feel at ease. It was a nice feeling; she hadn't felt that way in a long time.

Sara checked the time. It was 5:30 in the morning and they'd gotten to bed at around midnight. She wasn't sure if Hank was an early riser, so she decided to get up, get dressed, and make herself a cup of coffee. Hank hadn't woken up, so she picked up the book she had started a couple of nights ago.

Sara had been reading for about an hour when Hank walked into the living room, wiping the sleep out of his eyes and stretching.

"Good morning"

"Good morning. How long have you been up?"

"About an hour and a half."

"Wow, and I thought I got up early."

He sat down on the sofa next to her.

"Are you hungry?" she asked him.

"Starving."

"Uh, okay, what would you like to eat?"

"What've you got?"

"Er…I think I have what we need to make omelets, bacon and toast."

"You think?" he chuckled.

"Yeah, I, uh, don't eat in much."

"I kind of got that impression," he said, laughing, "Let's go check your fridge."

XXX

Grissom had finally gotten to sleep at around 3 am. At around 5 am, he had been woken up by the smell of smoke and a violent cough. It had taken him about thirty seconds to completely realize what was happening. His townhouse was on fire; he could see smoke coming into his room from under the door. Against his better judgment, Grissom put on a bathrobe, then grabbed a few articles of clothing and shoved them into a bag. He touched the door; it was warm, but not hot, so he opened it. He made a way through the smoke; the air seemed to be getting thicker by the second. He reached the front door and got out of the house. As he ran to his neighbor's house to ask them to call 911, it occurred to him that he had never actually seen these people before. When he knocked, a groggy looking man who looked to be about 25 years old answered.

"Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"Yes, I'm very sorry to be bothering you this early in the morning, but my house is burning down; could you call 911 please?"

It took the man a few seconds to process what Grissom had just told him. When it registered, his eyes widened, he looked over to Grissom's house and mumbled something that sounded like "holy crap". Then he nodded and called 911. He invited Grissom inside and offered him a cup of coffee. Grissom gratefully accepted, and they both sat in silence as they waited for the Fire Department to arrive.

Grissom sighed as he watched his house go up in flames.

XXX

It turned out that Sara did in fact have the ingredients needed to make omelets for two. At the moment, however, she probably had more omelet in her hair than on her plate; Hank had started a food fight. She had ended it. Hank had ketchup and hot sauce stains on his white undershirt, and a piece of egg dangling from his bangs. They were both grinning like idiots.

"I have to go to work in about an hour," Hank said.

"You could always play hookie," Sara teased.

"Tempting, but if I don't go in, there's a chance someone might die."

Sara wondered for a second what it would be like saving lives as opposed to piecing together the mystery of someone's death. She decided that they were both pretty important responsibilities.

"I know, I was just teasing."

Hank checked his watch.

"How long have we been dating?" he asked, seemingly out of nowhere.

"Uh, about 6 months now."

"Right, so – and I'm just throwing this out there- do you think it would be too early to move in together?"

Sara's eye widened, she opened her mouth to say something, and then closed it again. She frowned.

"It depends; would I be moving to your place, would you be moving here, or would we be moving into a new place altogether?"

"Uh, I hadn't really thought of that. Do you have a preference?"

"Well, I still have at least 6 months on this lease, so…"

"Okay. I don't mind moving here."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Just give me a couple of weeks to get organized."

"Uh, yeah, of course."

He smiled at her, glanced at his watch and got up from the table. A few minutes later he'd reappeared from the bedroom, in his paramedic's uniform.

Sara thought he looked quite handsome.

"You're working tonight, right?" he asked her.

"Yeah, I'm not sure when my next day off is, but I'll let you know."

He nodded and looked her over. She had bed hair, she was wearing a Winnie the Pooh bathrobe, faded pink slippers, and she looked tired. Not to mention she still had that black eye.

"Are you sure you're alright?" he asked her.

"Yeah, I'm feeling a lot better now," she assured him. It was the truth.

"Okay. I should head for work."

"Okay."

They kissed, lingering perhaps just a little longer than what might be considered a casual kiss.

He smiled, and was out of the door.

Suddenly, Sara felt quite alone. She began to wash the dishes, and was grateful she was that Hank would be moving in soon.

XXX

Catherine arrived at the lab about half an hour early; she had a few things to organize before the start of her shift.

Walking past Grissom's office, she noticed that he was sitting at his desk. This wasn't unusual in and of itself, but she also noticed that he looked more tired than usual, if that was possible.

She knocked on the door to his office and let herself in.

"Hey, Gil,"

"Hey Cath,"

"Is everything alright? You seem even more exhausted than usual,"

"I didn't sleep well last night,"

"Oh,"

That's when she noticed the duffel bag beside his desk.

"How long have you been here?"

He glanced at his watch.

"About six hours,"

"So, let me get this straight: you're sleeping here, now?"

He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.

"My house burned down early this morning. This is the only place I had to go to."

"Oh, well that's different."

Grissom's eyes narrowed.

"Well, I have a spare bedroom you could stay in for a while if you want to; it's kind of small, but I think you'd be comfortable," Catherine offered.

Grissom was touched by Catherine's generosity.

"Really?"

"Really. I'll even help you put whatever you've got left into storage."

"Uh, that won't be a problem."

"Wow, it was that bad, huh?"

"Yeah. It was an electrical fire; it started in the walls."

Catherine pat him on the shoulder and got up to leave his office.

"Thanks again for your offer, Catherine."

"Hey, what're friends for?"

XXX

Sara was frowning and seriously considering slapping Greg.

"Will you shut up and just give me my results?" she snapped.

"Okay, okay, sheesh. Either you're bi-polar or you really didn't get laid last night. I swear earlier you were smiling and you looked like you were in such a good mood that I half-expected you to start whistling!"

She glared at him. Greg was pretty much the last person she wanted to talk about her sex-life with.

Nick walked into the DNA lab, saw the look on Sara's face and asked: "Whoa, what did Greg say to piss you off this time?"

"When she walked in, I said 'Looks like someone got laid last night.', that's all!" Greg answered defensively.

"Greg!" Sara yelled.

Nick started laughing.

"Sara, it's really not that big a deal."

"I just don't think whole lab needs to know that Hank I slept together last night!"

"So, Greg and I are the whole lab?"

"Nope, but she's sure making the news spread faster," Warrick answered from behind Sara.

"Yeah, but I don't think the guys in ballistics heard her," Catherine added as she walked in.

Sara's face turned a rather dark shade of red.

Naturally, Grissom chose this moment to come into the DNA lab.

"There you all are. I have some more assignments for all of you."

They groaned collectively; they were pulling a double.

After the assignments were handed out, Grissom asked Sara to stay behind.

"How are you?" he asked her, looking at her eye.

Her eye was healing fast; the bruise would most likely be gone in a couple of days at the most.

"I'm, uh, feeling a lot better, thanks for asking."

"That's good to know. From what I hear, things with Hank are going pretty well," he said, raising an eyebrow.

Sara blushed.

"Yeah, he's actually moving in soon."

Grissom nodded.

"Good for you. I'm glad he makes you happy, and I'm glad he was there for you."

Sara was surprised that Grissom had dropped his guard, however momentarily.

"Thanks. I'm, uh, sorry your house burned down."

Grissom just shrugged.

"It's nice of Catherine to let you stay in her spare bedroom."

"Yes, not many people would want their boss living with them, even if it's just for a little while."

Then they stood there, feeling awkward around each other once again.

"I better get to my crime scene. Detective Vega doesn't like to be kept waiting." she finally said.

"Yeah, sure. I'll, uh, talk to you later." Grissom said.

Grissom's phone rang as she walked away.

Just business as usual.